Remington 03-A3 repair - Looking for suggestions

Hello all,
I'm new to the forum here and I wanted to get some advice on a spoterized 03-A3 that recently landed in my safe. Long story short, it was my grandfather's rile and has been sitting in my dad's closet for many years until he asked me if I wanted it.

The Good:
The rifle has some sentimental value to me as I remember learning about long-distance shooting with it.
It's got a good heft and balance about it.
The Lyman 57SME sight is actually quite nice (I like it)

The Bad:
It's been sporterized. Yeah, I'd love to have it in original configuration but what can I say?
It's been refinished. Along with that, some of the stamps are gone. On top of that the bluing job is not very good.
The bolt has been polished to a shiny metallic. It's ok, but not stock...
It's dirty. Storage conditions were not ideal so my next project is to take her down to itty bitty parts and clean her up.

The Ugly: (Here's where I need your help)

1. The safety won't engage anymore. I remember that it USED to work because this is one of the guns I was shooting as a kid learning basic firearms safety. I know the safety won't engage unless the bolt is cocked (I've seen that question in more than one forum). I can engage the safety if I pull back on the cocking handle (all three positions) a little once it is cocked.

2. The trigger sucks. I'm guessing that someone along the line tried to do a trigger job and made a mess of it. There's no first stage at all. It's all slop and then BANG! The trigger will flop around if you shake the rifle. I checked the pull on my trigger scale and got 2.5lbs.

My ideal outcome:
I'd like to put a little work into this rifle so I can have a little fun at the range and maybe take down a hog with it from time to time. Right now I don't feel it's all that safe with the trigger as it is and an iffy safety. Also, I'd like to have a decent trigger with two real stages and a little more pull weight than 2.5lbs (I know, it's crazy right?)

I've read that sometimes these sporterized rifles have had the sear ground to make a lighter trigger pull. So might I get away with replacing the sear or is the whole trigger likely trashed? As for the safety, do I need a new bolt or does it just need to be rebuilt? I can DIY quite a bit but I have a smith if I get in over my head.

Thanks in advance!

Here's some pics:
Attachment 47626Attachment 47630Attachment 47627Attachment 47628Attachment 47629

a new bolt, trigger ect, will cure your safety issues..
careful with MOST gunsmiths...they have no clue when it comes to 1903s.
be more suspect of the ones that say Master Gunsmith on the wall or card...yikes.

The gunsmiths at the Civilian Marksmanship Program have started taking in repair work for USGI milsurp rifles. If anyone is competent to repair an 03, it's got to be these guys, & they have all necessary tools, gauges, & fixtures. You might want to check them out.

Neal

Sounds like someone fiddled with your trigger / sear and that will cause both your problems. They may have ground on the stricker rod , too , but not usually.
I'd replace the triger and sear and see if that cures your problems . Start with the simplest / most common / cheepest first ( this is all three ). You don't need a new bolt .
Chris

First of all, thanks to everyone who replied. I appreciate the kind responses.

Now on to the good stuff:
It's Fixed!

I started to take the rifle apart and noticed that the trigger pin was not all the through the sear. I pushed the pin all the way in and found that the trigger wasn't just flopping around anymore. So, I went ahead and put the rifle all back together and BAM it's working like it's supposed to. The safety works, the trigger stays put, and there's a nice 2 stage pull at about 5lbs. I'm glad I started looking before buying parts.

Here's a pic of the trigger before I fixed it.
Attachment 47683

Yep , all that slop was allowing the stricker rod to come to rest a hair too far forward and you had to pull it back to align the safety and rod cuts up.
Chris